Harold and the Purple Crayon

My apologies for the long delay. Work and school have united against me to keep me away from any normal social activities for the time being. That being said I have an annotation of A Picture for Harold's Room by Crockett Johnson to tide you over until I post about meeting author Fred Bowen, responsible for several series of children's fictional sports books.

Johnson, Crokett. A Picture for Harold's Room. United States: Harper & Row, 1960. Print.

• A Picture for Harold’s Room is fit for a level one, first-grade reading level audience, and chronicles Harold’s experimental drawings across his bedroom wall. This book fulfills Margaret Jenses’ criteria for an effective and well written easy reader utilizing rhythm, repetition, vocabulary, clear context, and picture clues. Crockett also utilizes good spacing between each word and a broad use of white space to maximize the reader's eye span. There is minimal rhythm and repetition in the text: "He could not wade home through the ocean / He could not climb those high mountains" (48-49). Most of the text falls under Margaret Jenses' recommendation of a five to seven word limit per line, but sometimes Crockett exceeds this. The text is displayed solely across the bottom of the page. Reflected above it is Harold illustrating the text with purple crayon sketches. By having a character illustrate the story this demonstrates how the concepts of a church, town, a sea, a ship, and a lighthouse are viewed from a young child's perspective.

• There is a clear and chronological context within the story as the plot progresses with Harold finding different ways to draw his way through a town, the mountains, the grass, and finally to his room. Crockett's most advanced innovation with this book is his variations in perspective. Throughout the story Harold changes sizes in comparison with his surroundings. At one point he is a giant, bigger than a town. In another scene he is smaller than a bird and realizes that he is not his usual size. The story concludes with Harold drawing himself back to his normal size and hints at more mature implications about how small or big a child may feel in comparison with the world. Overall, this book is appropriate for beginner readers and still remains popular today.

A few days ago I picked up a book called The Lit Report by Sarah N. Harvey and I'm only a few pages in. I am hooked. This book about a girl growing up in a Christian school whilst harboring a love for classical literature takes me back to my childhood days, except for the Christian school part. I'm not that far into it yet so I'll report more when I've finished it.

Also on the "To Do" list, compare and contrast two types of YA books on Polygamous communities: Sister Wife and The Chosen One.

Until next time!